Fatal Illusions Going Out of Print
Yes, it’s official. Kregel Publications recently informed me that Fatal Illusions, my first published novel, is officially out of print.
Out of print? What exactly does that mean? That means sales have not been sufficient to warrant a reprint, and all remaining copies of the novel, once kept in a warehouse, have been sold away (though if you go to Amazon.com you’ll still see some copies for sale). Kregel basically “bought” ownership of my book for five years, and now the book is back in my hands: lock, stock, and barrel.
Is this reason for despair? Not at all. This is pretty routine in the publishing industry. While every novelist would like to see his or her novels being published and going through countless reprints infinitum, let’s admit it: most novels just don’t sell like hotcakes forever, if they sell decently at all.
Is this disheartening? Well, yeah, it can be, to be frank. Novelists literally put in hundreds, if not thousands, of hours for their “babies.” It’s hard to work so hard and then see your fruit die on the vine, so to speak. But really, first novels rarely do exceptionally well anyhow. Publishing is all about building a readership one book at a time. I have to keep that perspective in mind.
So what does this mean for Fatal Illusions and me as a novelist? I have a few options. I can go “indie” and self-publish the novel however I please, or I can find another publisher who might like to republish the novel in a repackaged format. Right now I already have two interested publishers, so that appears to be the right path to take. (Frankly, the idea of a new cover excites me.)
Yes, going the indie route is tempting. I’d have full control over my book, including cover and occasional freebie offers of the Kindle version at Amazon.com. But I’d also have to spend some dough to make it all happen in return for a very unsure investment. Though many of my novelist friends are going indie, spending the cash, and diving into the self-publishing world—some are even paying to have their own audiobooks made—I simply don’t have time to deal with it myself, nor am I willing to spend that kind of dough right now.
So…that’s the plan. Stay tuned for future news about the rerelease of Fatal Illusions!
Yes, a third novel is coming, just much more slowly than I would have liked. Blame it on my editing schedule. Supporting my family has to come first, which means the next novel has to get pushed farther down the list. Hopefully, I’ll have some good news about that before too long.
One thought on “Fatal Illusions Going Out of Print”
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If it were me, I’d do everything I could to try to connect Book 1 with Book 2 and leave room for Book 3 to be added. If you could unite the books with the same publisher or at least the same format, you could sell them together. A fractured series has to be hard to sell. It would be very easy at this point to publish the Kindle and Nook version. It wouldn’t cost much either. At least when you publish yourself with Amazon’s worldwide distribution, you can promote it however you want and call all the shots. Look at it this way. Kregel has done all the expensive work for you.
I know you feel the current cover is dark, but it looks very professional and actually fits the book quite well with the magician in front. If you can design your own cover that looks this good and you like it better, it might be worth it. But it could cost quite a bit to replace it with one of similar quality if you have to hire it out.
Just my opinion for what it’s worth.